Eagles' Bowles: 'We've got to finish and win games'

Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist

Posted:
Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 5:28 PM

Wearing a Temple hoodie, new Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles channeled a little bit of Hyman Roth from “The Godfather, Part II” at his introductory press conference. It was the this-is-the-business-we-have-chosen line from the movie, and it was used in reference to the sudden firing of his predecessor, Juan Castillo.

“Me and Juan had a great relationship,” said Bowles, who was brought in to coach the secondary this season. “To come in this morning and find out...He’s a great guy, he’s a great coach, he works hard, we had a great relationship as a staff. That’s going to be sorely missed.

“But for us, in this business we chose, we’ve got to move on and try to make the best of what we can. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

“The only way (the defense) can be different is on the scoreboard,” Bowles said. “Hopefully, we come up with wins, it’ll look different. But in the end, the main goal is to get the victory, however we’ve got to get it.”

Bowles also said, “We’ve got to finish at the end of the games. We’ve got to finish and win games. The bottom line is, when you’re out there on defense, it doesn’t matter what happens. When you’re out there at the end of the game, you’ve got to finish.”

“Tweak” was the word he used to describe what he would change. Bowles said he has not yet decided if he will work from the sidelines, as Castillo did, or from a skybox, where the view is better and the emotions are less hot. And as for new tactics, he naturally was pretty circumspect.

As for the wide-9 defensive front, which has drawn so much commentary since defensive line coach Jim Washburn brought it here last year, Bowles said, “We run a wide-9 -- that’s what we do. But game plan-wise, it depends on whether we do other things along with it.”

Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com
Reach Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com.